The new round of venture capital will help Indigo Agriculture, led by the cofounder of Anacor Pharmaceuticals, fund research projects and build its staff. Indigo is exploring the potential of using naturally occurring fungi and bacteria—rather than chemicals or genetic engineering—to help crops thrive. Its first product is a seed coating aimed at helping crops like cotton grow with less water. Read more at Fortune...

In a column for the Huffington Post, Nestle's CEO Paul Bulcke urged businesses to take steps outlined in the recent Global Green Growth Forum's Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard to help halve food waste by 2030. "By measuring food loss and waste, companies can better see and report on where and how food is lost in their supply chains," he writes. "Increased transparency can, in turn, help companies identify hotspots, develop new strategies and monitor progress." Read more at Huffington Post...

So far, the company and its Connected Food platform have raised $43 million and established partnerships with Good Housekeeping, Pirch and Whirlpool Corp. Innit is developing technology for connected kitchen appliances. Read more at BusinessWire...

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine looked at 53 clinical trials evaluating the health effects of the Mediterranean diet and found that people on the diet had lower risk of developing heart disease, breast cancer and diabetes. Read more at Time...